Flowers and Petals
by AlwaysUnitedHogwartsHouses394
Summary: Lily and Bellflower start their year at Hogwarts and are friends. Eventual femmeslash. LilyxBellflower
1. Chapter 1

"Potter, Lily!" called Professor McGonagall from beside the stool where the Sorting Hat sat.

Lily walked up to the stool, still nervous that she wouldn't get into Gryffindor, where her cousin Hugo already was, along with the rest of her family. Lily walked up to the stool, practically shaking, as the hat got placed on her head. She looked at the Gryffindor table, where her family were grinning at her, waiting for her to join them. Lily glanced at every table, definitely hoping to be in any house but Slytherin. _Hmm..._ said the hat to Lily, _there's plenty of courage, but is it enough to prove yourself? Smart as well, but you don't seem like the cunning type. It seems you'd do anything for your friends and family, just like you saved your brother from a fire when you were younger. That shows bravery... But also loyalty. Which is stronger? I see. This is no contest... _**HUFFLEPUFF! **

Lily was shocked. Utterly shocked. Everyone in the hall was staring at her, and her cousins and siblings looks were enough to make her feel worse than before. It must have shown on her face, because after 30 seconds, the hall burst into applause as she walked to the Hufflepuff table. At the Hufflepuff table, she sat down as some students congratulated her. _I was almost put in Gryffindor, _she thought. Meanwhile, she heard McGonagall call, "Silver, Bellflower!". Lily met her on the train and thought she was the sweetest person she ever met. She was born a metamorphagus and had usually had light blue hair with darker highlights of the blue colour. She seemed shy but warmed up to Lily quickly. She listened for her new friend to be sorted into her house. The Sorting Hat didn't take as long, about 3 minutes. After, with seemingly tough deliberation, the hat opened at the brim and shouted to the hall, **RAVENCLAW! **Lily smiled as her friend walked to her table, blushing and looking at the floor as the Ravenclaw table burst into applause. The food appeared as soon as Headmistress McGonagall was finished with her speech. After eating, Lily not talking to anyone, she followed the prefects to her dormitory, enjoying the plants in her common room. _**These years at Hogwarts are going to be interesting, **_she thought, drifting off into her slumber.


	2. Chapter 2: 5 years later

_5 years later..._

Lily was grumbling, walking out of Defence Against the Dark Arts with her friend since her first year, Bellflower Silver. "Don't worry Lily," she said consolingly. "_Don't worry?!_" Lily cried. "I couldn't produce a simple shielding spell non-verbally!" she exclaimed.

"It's not simple," said Bellflower calmly, "Not everyone can do it in one go".

"You did," retorted Lily angrily.

Bell had no response to this, as she did produce the charm. "I can help you," she offered feebly.

"Bell, no matter _how _hard I try, I can never get it!" she said, using her nickname for her friend.

"You will," she said helpfully, "and it's lunch anyways, let's go to the Great Hall," she continued, changing the subject before Lily had a chance to make a comment.

Even though Lily and Bell were in different houses, they always sat together no matter what. Today, Bell sat at the Hufflepuff table with Lily.

They saw her cousin, Rose, who joined them. She had her Head Girl badge on her chest and her bookbag, ready to do homework. "Hi Rose," said Lily and Bell in unison. "Hi Lily, Bell," she replied, putting her books back in her bag. Rose went on, "How was your class?"

Lily groaned inwardly. Only Rose would bring up school and work at a time like this.

Bell spoke first. "We just had Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was okay," she said, glancing at Lily.

Lily practically exploded. "I can't produce a single bloody non-verbal spell! I wish I could drop the subject, but it's necessary" she grumbled again.

Rose looked scandalized. "Defense Against the Dark Arts is a necessary subject. Just practice at it and you'll get it in no time," she said, getting up and leaving.

Lily sunk down. "No one will ever understand," she whispered.

"Don't worry, Lils," she said, using her nickname while rubbing her back.

In an attempt to cheer her up, she said "We have Potions next, isn't that your favourite subject?"

Lily smiled. Bell always finds a way to cheer Lily up no matter what the situation is.

"It is," she agreed. According to her father, her grandmother, whom she was named after, had talent at Potions too. That was why Lily liked it, also it was hands on and no spellwork was needed. "Come on Bell, let's finish our food!" she exclaimed.

Bellflower laughed kindly and took a bite of her meat pie.

Finally, lunch was over and, as usual, the Ravenclaw's had Potions with the Hufflepuffs. Lily and Bell went to Potions with all their ingredients. Lily's other friend, Don Thomas, was in Potions as well. "Hi Don," she said to him, just as Bell said, "Don!".

Don walked over, 5 minutes remaining before class started, "Hi Bell and Lily, excited for Potions?" he said, smirking.

"Am I?!" she exclaimed while she smacked him playfully.

Bell gave her signature tinkling laugh that all the boys liked. "That's what you get for asking a stupid question".

Lily nodded in agreement while pulling out her potion ingredients.

Don smirked. "Whatever you say, Bell" he said.

Professor Slughorn entered the classroom, and said "Good afternoon boys and girls, today we are going to be working on the Draught of Living Death. I know we've working on it a lot, but it's a hard potion to master and so far only one person has done it perfectly," he smiled at Lily graciously.

Lily blushed and looked down at her lap while Bell and Don smiled at her and the rest of the class stared at her with jealousy.

Professor Slughorn went on, "You have the whole class to try to make this potion. Time starts now!"

As everyone got their ingredients, Professor Slughorn walked over to Lily and said, "Lily, why don't you help anyone who needs help?"

"Of course, Professor," agreed Lily.

Lily got up and walked over to someone who looked like he was having trouble with the Drought. "Do you need help?" she asked kindly.

He glanced up shyly. "Um, sure," he asked.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Bryan," he replied.

"Well Bryan, what do you need help with?"

"I can't understand the instructions, how will I know when I crushed the roots enough?" he asked.

Lily bit her lip. "Well, I think you have to be sure that its not too crushed, for example, it looks like powder, and not crushed enough that it they aren't in seperate pieces. It needs to be in between," she finished.

Bryan smiled. "Hey, thanks!" he exclaimed.

"No problem," she replied, smiling.

He finished the rest of his potion perfectly.

"Thanks for the help," he said.

"Anytime," she said, just as class ended.

Bryan nodded as Lily went off to join Bell and Don.

Bell smiled, "Wow Lily, you really did well,"

Lily shrugged, "Potions is my favourite class," she said indignantly.

"Because there are no spells needed for this class," they said in unison, Don rolling his eyes.

"We know Lily," he said, giving her a playful punch on the arm.

"Apparently I also got my potion skills from my grandmother," she said wistfully.

"Anyways," interjected Bell, "We have Charms next!"

Don groaned. He always had trouble with the wand work and got confused.

Lily was okay and Bell was the best of the three.

"Come on, before we're late!" said Lily.

The three walked off to the Charms classroom, talking animatedly about Potion making.

Author's Note:

I hope this story ends up well :p My friend is helping me write it xD


	3. Chapter 3: Bellflower's Story

Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn't so bad, in fact, it was pretty fun. Today, they were learning how to cast the 'Riddikulus' charm against Boggarts. They were originally supposed to learn this in their Third Year, but their teacher was ill and they had to learn from textbooks all year. Their Fourth Year was recapping from the previous year, and now this year, they were learning the charms quickly to move on through units. Apparently this charm wasn't hard, and they split up into groups of three. Lily was with Bell and Don as they went to a cupboard, as a boggart currently inhabited it.

"Who wants to go first?" asked Lily. "Not me, though."

"Not me," said Don, a split second faster than Bell.

"Bell, your turn," said Lily with a slight smirk.

Bell glared at them as she stepped towards the cupboard.

She used the 'Alohomora' charm and the cupboard door opened slowly as something came out. First, it was hard to see but when Bell looked closer, it wasn't "something". It was more of a scene. It appeared to be... Her. Around he were others... Bell recognized them. They were her siblings... They weren't dead, on the contrary, they were quite alive. They seemed to be making fun of her for going to Hogwarts, just like they did when she first got her letter. It was a shock, being muggleborn after all. She still remembered that day as if it were yesterday...

_Bell was sitting in her bedroom, flipping through a book when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it Mum!" she yelled, running down the stairs. "Okay Bellflower!" came her Mom's reply shortly after. Bell opened the door to find an elderly lady with a green witch's hat outside her door. "Um... Hello?" said Bell hesitantly. "Hello, are you Miss Bellflower Silver?" asked the lady. Bell just stared at her and quickly said, "Um, one second," and ran from the door to her mum. "Mum, mum!" she yelled. "Bellflower, calm down, what is it?" she asked. "There's a lady at the door in a green pointed hat like a witch outside our door and she somehow knows my name!" exclaimed Bell. Her mom instantly got up and went to the door with Bell trailing behind her slowly. _

_The lady was still standing there as Bell's mom said hesitantly, "Hello,"_

_The elder smiled. "Hello, my name is Minerva McGonagall and I'm from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."_

_Bell's mom said, "Excuse me? Witchcraft and Wizardry?"_

_Professor McGonagall went on, "Your daughter is a witch, born of magic. Normally, wizards and witches are born through other wizards and witches, but very rarely, they come from a muggle family."_

_Bell's mom went on, "Muggle?"_

_"Non-magic folk," replied Professor McGonagall. _

_"Okay, how would she get there, if I were to let her?" asked Bell's mum. _

_"In this letter," said Professor McGonagall, handing the letter, "Is everything you need to know, including the Hogwarts Train ticket."_

_Bell's mum nodded and accepted the letter. _

_"Thank you," she said. _

_"See you soon Bellflower," said Professor McGonagall as she left. _

_Bell finally came out from behind her mum. "What was that about?" she asked her mum. _

_"I'm not quite sure dear, I'll need to read this and tell everyone at dinner," she replied, a bit distractedly. _

It was because of this day that Bellflower became more shy than she was.


	4. Chapter 4: Boggarts and Dinner

Bell shook out of her memory, remembering that her mother announced it at dinner and her brothers' reactions.

_"A witch? She's a freak!" said one of her brothers. _

_Bell ran away crying, and later her brothers weren't any kinder even though their mum told them off. She remembered being beaten a bit. _

Bell quickly shook out of the memory yet again and tried to think of something funny.

_Not revenge, _she thought, as that wouldn't help the case.

She then thought of something, even though it was juvenile but funny.

"Riddikulus!" she said firmly.

Her brother's pants fell down and he looked embarrassed. Bell looked embarrassed as well.

She quickly pushed Don forward as it was his turn.

The boggart took a while to transform as it couldn't tell what Don's biggest fear was. Then, it suddenly transformed into what looked like a banshee. When it wailed, everyone in the class had to cover their ears and look for the source of the noise. Don had to refrain from covering his ears as he said the charm. The banshee quickly lost its voice as the class sighed in relief and went back to work. Don was also red-faced as he finished. No one laughed though, since the majority of the class had seen their biggest fear.

Lily stepped up to the cupboard as Don walked away. She already knew her biggest fear even though the boggart took a while because of it's confusion. Finally, the boggart changed. It was the same memory as when she was 7.

_"Lils, get out of the house!" she heard her father yell. _

_Lily ran to the nearest exit just in time, the red hot flames nipping her skin. Lily finally ran out of the house, tripping and coughing the smoke from her lungs. She saw her father, mother and brother. But instead of seeing both brothers, she realized that Albus was missing. "Mum, where's Albus?" she cried, looking at the burning house. _

_"He's still inside..." Lily's mum replied, sobbing. "I don't think..." she trailed off with another sob. _

_Without another word, Lily took off towards the house, her parents shouting and attempting to chase her. She quickly ran in, thankful that there weren't a lot of flames near the stairs. She found her brother, still in his room hiding in a corner. _

_"ALBUS!" screeched Lily. "What in the world are you doing?" _

_She grabbed his arm and quickly ran out just in time. "Albus!" sighed their parents gratefully. _

_Lily smiled just as her mum said, "Lily, don't you EVER pull a stunt like that again!"_

_"Okay mum," came Lily's reply, while tears streamed down her face. _

The boggart was her brother, dead, from being burnt in the fire. Lily tried to say the charm but broke down in tears. This didn't go unnoticed as Bell came forward as the boggart changed, said the charm and put the boggart back in the cupboard.

"Lily, it'll be okay," said Bell in a consoling manner while rubbing her back.

"I-I can't b-believe that I s-see him d-dead!" cried Lily, sniffling.

"Do you need to go to the bathroom to calm down? I'll come with you," offered Bell.

Lily nodded, so Bell went to the professor and asked if she could take Lily to the bathroom. After being granted permission, she led Lily to the bathroom.

"Lils, are you alright?" asked Bell, using Lily's nickname.

"I-I'm f-f-fine," Lily replied shakily, her tears slowing as Bell continued to rub her back.

Lily calmed down and her breathing slowed down. "Thank you for coming Bell," murmured Lily. 

"You're my friend, of course I'd help," said Bell while smiling.

Lily checked her watch. "Class ended, should we go?"

"Okay," Bell agreed.

They got up together and walked out of the bathroom. It was dinner, so they headed towards the Great Hall, this time Lily sitting at Bell's table. Don spotted them and joined them. "Lily, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," she replied brightly.

"That's great," he said, smiling.

"Where are you going?" asked Bell, as Don was already leaving the table.

Don blushed. "My girlfriend," he mumbled almost inaudibly.

Lily smirked as Bell smiled. "Okay, go on!" said Bell happily.

As Don left, still blushing, Lily and Bell laughed good-naturedly.

"That's good for him," said Lily happily.

"Soon enough, that'll happen to you," said Bell, a smirk gracing her face.


	5. Chapter 5: The Start of The Holidays

It was nearing Christmas as the snow began to fall and create a look of powdered sugar on Hogwarts. Bell was helping Lily pack for the holidays.

"So, you're coming to my house during the holidays right?" Lily asked Bell.

"Yes, I'm allowed, but after Christmas," she clarified.

"That's good!" said Lily, who then smiled at her friend.

Bell smiled back as they resumed their packing.

When they finished, they headed to the Great Hall to wait before boarding the Hogwarts Express. They both got into a compartment across from Don. He was snogging his girlfriend when he realized the curtain was still up, and blushing and avoiding eye contact, he pulled it down. Lily went into a fit of giggles as Bell was gazing into the distance thoughtfully.

When Lily finally caught her breath, Bell was still gazing in a dreamy manner.

"Bell?" Lily asked.

Bell snapped back to reality.

"What were you thinking about?" Lily prompted.

"I wonder what it would be like to find love," she said wistfully.

Lily smiled at her friend.

"You'll find out soon," Lily said confidently.

_Bell's one year younger than me, but I think she'll find love soon enough,_ thought Lily. _She's really mature for her age, who wouldn't like her? _

Bell smiled a wistful smile.

"What are you doing for the holidays?" asked Lily.

"My parents want to take me to Paris for a few days," replied Bell.

"I want to go there one day," said Lily. "There's the... What tower?"

"Eiffel Tower, Lily," said Bell with a tinkling laugh.

"That," said Lily, blushing.

"Then I'd go home for Christmas and floo to your house the next day. My fireplace is now part of the floo network," Bell explained.

"Oh, good!" said Lily happily.

They talked during the remainder of the ride while eating chocolate frogs and swapping the cards. Finally, the time came when they had to go for the holidays.

"Lily!" called her mum, Ginny.

"That's my cue," she said to Bell as her mom called her.

"Bye Lily!" she said, waving then walking away.

"Bye Bell!" Lily called after her.

Lily ran to her mum. "How was Hogwarts Lily?" asked Ginny.

"It was fantastic! I just need to learn non verbal spells," she said quietly.

"Don't worry Lily," said Ginny consolingly.

Once at home, Lily unpacked her things and went down for dinner. Albus and Lily were talking animatedly about their school year so far. After dinner, Lily read in her bedroom and fell asleep.

~FaP ~

It was Christmas Eve. Lily and Albus were excited as James came home as well. They had their house decorated and occasionaly wizard crackers will drop confetti from the ceiling. Lily was sitting near the Christmas tree they put up just as her fireplace glowed green and someone stepped out.


	6. Chapter 6: Bell's Troubles

Bell stepped out of the fire, coughing, while her face was wet with tears. Lily leapt off her spot, dashing to her tear-streaked friend.

"Bell, what happened?" Lily exclaimed, wiping the tears off her friend.

"C-can I tell you later?" she asked, gesturing to Lily's siblings.

Lily just noticed them. "Of course," she whispered.

She glared at her siblings. "Leave us alone!" she exclaimed, feeling a bit guilty.

Her parents entered the room. "Lily, why are you- Hi Bell!" started Ginny, smiling warmly.

"Lily, take Bell to your room," instructed Harry, noticing her tears.

Lily obliged and her parents exchanged a glance.

"Come on Bell," she said consolingly.

Once in Lily's bedroom, on Bell's cot, Lily asked hesitantly, "What happened Bell?"

"Well," she started, with a slight hiccup, "My mom wants me to h-have a b-boyfriend, but I don't p-particulary want one. We had a really big fight, even though this topic seems petty but the fight was big, and now she won't even speak to me. I quickly packed and flooed here, I'm sorry," she went on.

"Don't be, it's alright," said Lily, patting Bell's back as she remembered her doing the same. "She didn't have to be that mad at you, I understand. I know she'll get over it," said Lily, smiling a bit.

Bell smiled a feeble smile. "I hope so," she murmured, leaning in to give Lily a hug.

Lily smiled, smelling the sweet scent of Bell's hair. She quickly pulled back, afraid.

"What's wrong Lily?" asked Bell, a shocked look appearing on her face.

"Nothing," said Lily, covering up her mistake. "I'm just glad you're alright," she said.

"Thank you," Bell replied, a brighter smile gracing her features.

At dinner, to Bell's relief, no one asked questions and they avoided the topic of her early arrival. It was nice, with Ginny's cooking which she supposedly inherited from her mother. They had salad with a chicken pie and a treacle tart. Lily's siblings kept giving her sympathetic looks, and she sent them a grateful smile back.

They retreated to their seperate rooms after their supper as they got dressed into their pyjamas. "Thank you so much Lily," said Bell a bit happily.

"You're welcome, I'm here for you." Lily stated, smiling.

"Goodnight Lily," said Bell sleepily.

"Goodnight Bell," said Lily, thinking of her friend while flicking off the light.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Fan. Fiction. If I were to own Harry Potter, would I really be writing on a fanfiction website? No. I'd make it a reality. :p**

"It's Christmas, it's Christmas!" is what Lily woke up to on Christmas by her cousins. Lily couldn't recall her cousins coming, so they must have arrived late last night. Bell, right next to her stirred but didn't wake up. Lily was amazed that she didn't wake up to her cousins screams'. Lily gently shook her friend awake as she stretched and yawned.

"We should go downstairs," said Lily.

"We should," agreed Bell, getting out of her bed.

When Lily opened the door she saw Rose open the door across the hall and step out, scolding the yelling cousins. When Rose saw Lily and Bell she smiled and they headed downstairs to the tree.

Lily glanced at the time and saw that it was 6:00 in the morning.

_How my cousins can get up so early, I'll never know, _thought Lily, yawning.

Her cousins were running around the tree, all excited as her parents finally woke up, coming downstairs with her Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill, all looking tired. The rest of her aunts and uncles would arrive later in the day.

Her cousins were so energetic that the second they got down the stairs, Lorcan threw the wrapping paper off his gift and everyone else followed suit. Bell's presents were under the magically large Christmas tree. Her parents also sent a gift, with an apology note;

_Dear Bellflower,_

_Your mother is cooling down over what happened, but she is sorry. She'll come around eventually. I understand your reaction, and you can stay at Lily's for now until Winter Break if it's all right with the Potter's. I hope you enjoy your gift, your mum actually chose it. _

_Don't worry,_

_See you in the summer,_

_Your Parents. _

Bell slightly cheered up at this and opened the gift. Bell was pleasantly surprised. She saw a necklace and a pair of earrings, what seemed to be made of gold.

Smiling, she made her way to Lily and watched her open up her gifts.

Later in the day, when everyone ran out of energy and had some of Ginny's amazing Christmas cookies, Bell and Lily retired to their room.

After a quick change into their pajamas, they each climbed into their respective beds. Lily turned over and glanced at Bell for a second or two.

"Are you sure you're okay...?" asked Lily tentatively, knowing Bell wouldn't fully be okay just yet about her mom.

"I'm fine," said Bell, in what she hoped was a strong-sounding voice.

When Lily still looked sceptical, Bell gave her a slight smile.

"I'm alright," she said confidently, with a slight yawn.

With that, she pulled up her covers and whispered, "Good Night Lily, you're a good friend..." before drifting off to sleep.

Soon enough, it was time to go to school again. Christmas Holidays were already over. Bell and Lily arrived at the train station first, Lily's cousins in tow. Quickly giving a kiss to each of her parents, Lily and Bell headed towards the train to find an empty compartment. Since they were early, finding a compartment wasn't any trouble at all. Then, at exactly 11:00, they heard the train start to chug as the train started to head forward, Lily waving to her family until she could see them no more. As the train headed forward, it's billowing steam obscured it from their parents' sights as a new term began at Hogwarts.

**Author's Note:**

**I'm sorry I haven't been updating in a while, school has really taken its toll on me :/ :p **

**I abandoned my Ginny/Hermione fic because it has started to seem a bit boring and I couldn't think of anything to write. But a new Ginny/Hermione fic is currently in the making. :)**

**Reviewers get my metaphorical cookies! :D **


End file.
